Letter from our Executive Officer.

As the Air District’s Executive Officer and a proud Bay Area resident, I’m pleased to introduce the Bay Area Air District’s 2012 Annual Report. This document showcases the dedicated effort we have made to preserve the quality of life in the region we call home.

Over the past few decades, air quality in the Bay Area has been an unqualified success story. As the result of our efforts and those of our partner agencies from national to state to the local level, air pollution has declined significantly, with tremendous benefits for public health and broad reductions in health-related costs in the region.

But with our rebounding and industrious economy, population growth, and increasing traffic, there’s always more work to be done and new challenges to meet. Last year, nothing underscored this more dramatically in the Bay Area than the August 6 fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond. This catastrophic event brought about a renewed commitment from all parties involved—from government agencies to industry to community groups—to reduce the likelihood that such events will happen again in the future, and to improve response support capabilities when they do. The Air District’s Work Plan for Action Items Related to Accidental Releases from Industrial Facilities is just one of the important initiatives we developed to help us be prepared in the future.

Last year, we issued a comprehensive report summarizing efforts to reduce particulate matter, or PM, in the region. This report describes the substantial health impacts of PM, provides technical information about PM emissions, and describes current regulations and programs that have made progress in reducing PM levels. The report also identifies future work needed to improve our understanding of PM, and explains how crucial PM-reduction efforts are to protecting public health and the environment.

In 2012, we continued to build on our core program successes, incorporating the latest air quality research and technological advances as we planned a course for the future. We pushed the frontiers of new information as we pursued air monitoring efforts to determine how ultra-fine particles affect air quality and public health in the region. We continued to fund pioneering initiatives to bring plug-in electric vehicle charging infrastructure to the region and to help the Bay Area join the ranks of progressive metropolitan regions with bike-sharing programs. And we adopted the strictest regulation in the nation on Portland cement manufacturing facilities.

This year, we’ll continue to fine-tune existing regulations and pass trailblazing new rules to measure, reduce, and limit emissions. In these and other ways, the Air District will continue to pursue our vision of providing a healthy breathing environment for every Bay Area resident.

The public is now recognizing the role we all play in contributing to the region’s air pollution challenges. Encouraging the public to rethink how, when, and what they drive will continue to help individuals in our region to reduce their air pollution contributions. Better air quality leads to improved quality of life for all of us who live and work in the Bay Area, so breathe easy and enjoy this look back at the 2012 Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s year in review.

Jack P. Broadbent
Executive Officer
Air Pollution Control Officer